Barry Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, commenting on today’s trade statistics release from the ONS, which shows UK trade performance for the year since the EU Referendum vote, said:

Barry Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade and Shadow Minister for International Climate Change, responding to the Times report on photographed documents from the Department for International Trade, said:

“Today we are reminded once again that the Secretary of State simply does not get it when it comes to the detail of contemporary international trade negotiations. His mission to pursue an 19th Century vision of free trade is dragging the U.K. backwards. Modern 21st Century trade agreements must address the critical issues of standards and protections facing our society and must work to tackle illegal trade and to address the non-tariff barriers that exist.

Barry Gardiner, Shadow Secretary for International Trade commenting on Liam Fox’s meeting with President Duterte of the Philippines, said:

“As we leave the European Union the United Kingdom will need to expand trade with countries all around the world and it is right that the government should be pursuing that vigorously. However we must be very careful not to sacrifice fundamental principles in the process.

On the day that Parliament debates triggering Article 50, the government sought to minimise scrutiny of the controversial Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada by bringing a debate before a small committee of MPs in a room upstairs from the main chamber.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the USA and her meeting with President Trump, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, Barry Gardiner MP has written to both leaders setting out the dangers of a quick trade agreement done for political purposes.